07/31/07 Ex-Felons’ Voting Rights

Should someone who has been convicted of a felony be allowed to vote after they finish their sentence and return home from prison?

The laws governing ex-felons voting rights vary from state to state, and many have changed in the last few years.  Ex-felons can now vote in most states, now including Maryland as of this year.

It makes sense to me that someone deserves to have the choice to vote after they’ve finished a prison sentence, whatever their crime was.  Any other argument aside for the moment, aren’t prisons supposed to offer a chance for reform and rehabilitiation?

I’ve heard arguments otherwise, though, including on the show today.  One caller suggested that offering ex-felons voting rights amounts to an attack on The Republican Party, based on his assumption that most ex-felons would vote Democrat.

Any thoughts?

-Justin

7/30 Gore Vidal

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A rebroadcast of Marc’s November 2006 interview with essayist, novelist, playwright, author and political critic Gore Vidal whose latest memoir is titled Point to Point Navigation.

                                                                                                                                  Marcus

7/30 Military Recruitment

The past two months have seen a decline in military enlistment. Where the military was once seen as  means of upward mobility and obtaining an education, concern over the possibility of being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan has led to a decline in military enlistment.

Guest host, Goucher College President, Sanford Ungar discussed the methods the military is using to attract more people to join the military with Curtis Gilroy Director of Accession Policy Director, Accession Policy for the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Anita Dancs Research Director National Priorities Project.

                                                                                                                                       Marcus

7/26 Cal Ripken

In honor of his induction, this week into the Baseball Hall of Fame, we are rebroadcasting Marc’s interview with Baltimore Oriole’s legend Cal Ripken, Jr. He’s known as the Iron Man for breaking Lou Gehrig’s consecutive game streak in 1995. Ripkin played 21 seasons with the Orioles and and that time he was voted Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player twice. 

Earlier this year, Cal Ripken received the ultimate honor of being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility.  In April, Marc interviewed Cal about his book Get in the Game: Eight Elements of Perseverence that Make a Difference. In the book, Ripken shares stories about his career in baseball and insights on life and work.

-Marcus                                                                                                       

7/26 Sports Roundtable

The sports world has been rocked to its foundations in the last week or so, with allegations that an NBA referee bet on games, including some he worked. In addition, one of the NFL’s marquee players is facing federal charges that he operated a dog fighting operation on his property. Meanwhile, the greatest career accomplishment in baseball history is being pursued by a man that many believe used performance enhancing substances.  Guest host Milton Kent of the Baltimore Sun, discussed these topics, as well as the enshrinement this weekend of Cal Ripken into the baseball Hall of Fame and the start of the Ravens’ training camp.

 

7/25/07 Police Detection

The popularity of television shows like Cold Case and CSI have proven to be ratings winners for networks and resulted in increased interest in detective work. But real life seldom mirrors television and the work of the police is not wrapped up in an hour with commercial breaks.

 

This hour Marc talked with Lieutenant Terry Mc Larney and Detective Homer Pennington of the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit. They’re also cold case detectives who recently solved a 1989 Baltimore murder. We learned about the detective work that goes into solving years-old murder cases. Marc then talked with forensic psychologist Jim McGee about his work and the role profiling has played in police detection.

 

                                                                                                                                          Marcus

07/25/07 Tsvi Bisk, The Optimistic Jew

I’m not Jewish.  When I told two friends who are Jewish about today’s show with Tsvi Bisk, I said, “He basically says that Jews need to stop being so obsessed with the past.”  These two friends come from about as different political viewpoints as possible, but they each said, “He’s right.  Jews are obsessed with the past.”

Now the interesting thing is that both of these friends are also young-in their twenties.  And in his book called The Optimistic Jew, Tsvi Bisk says that Judaism will lose the attention and interest of these young people-the future- if it remains what he calls “a culture constantly in mourning,” a culture obsessed with what happened in the past.  He believes that the Jewish people need to turn their attention from the past to the future in order to become leaders in the 21st century.

Thoughts?  What did you think when he said that Jews needed to stop obsessing over the Holocaust?  Or when he said that Israel is not the goal-it is simply a tool, a means towards liberal democracy?  I thought he said some pretty interesting and controversial stuff.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

-Jessica

07/25/07 Future of the Bay

Our Beloved Bay

Today at noon we brought you a conversation with Gerald Winegrad.  He is a former state senator who is now a professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy.  We invited him on because of a recent op-ed he wrote for the Baltimore Sun called What it will take to restore the Bay.

His op-ed paints a dismal scenario of how Bay restoration will fare if we keep continuing on as we are now.  He talked with Marc about the tough political decisions that have to be made.  He thinks that we are giving a free pass to agricultural polluters, and we need to demand that they stop polluting or take their land and return it to forestland.  He says we have to let the state have more power over land-use decisions.

What do you think?  Are chicken farmers given way too much leeway?  Should counties and municipalities be able to do whatever they want with their land?  What should we do?

-Jessica

07/24/07 Bottled Water

(Plastic Bottles, 2007 by Chris Jordan)
Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes.

Next to the cell phone and the i-pod, the accessory du jour is a bottle of water. Whether it’s Fiji, Deer Park, Aquafina or Dasani, the bottled water industry is a billion-dollar business. But why do people spend so much on something they can get for free? And what impact are all those plastic bottles, that don’t get recycled, having on our environment? 

Budgetary and environmental concerns over bottled water have led cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Ann Arbor Michigan to prohibit the use of city funds for bottled water. In addition, restaurants nationwide are removing bottled waters from their menus. One of Marc’s guests this hour was business writer Charles Fishman, who wrote about the bottled water industry for Fast Company Magazine. What he learned about the industry may change the way you think about, or purchase, bottled water.

Other related links to this show:

International Bottled Water Association Website

Food and Water Watch 

EPA National Primary Drinking Water Regulations

Consumer Reports on Water Filters

Life Straw for Water Purification

-Marcus

07/24/07 Md. State Comptroller Peter Franchot

Marc’s guest this hour was former Montgomery County Delegate now Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot. Franchot has been in the news of late for his clashes with Governor Martin O’Malley over the state budget, slots and a Queen Anne County land deal.

Critics of Franchot feel his attempts to raise the profile of the Comptroller’s office unmasks his ambition to someday occupy the governor’s office. In addition observers believe the Comptroller is venturing into areas such as budget balancing, economic development and environmental policy which have traditionally been the governor’s domain.